Once Upon an Autumn's Equinox
by Lusankya
Summary: Autumn's equinox falls on a Saturday this year, and Rika would like to use this two days long weekend to catch up with the Tamers, but only Ryo is available... Read, you might like it!
1. Chapter 1

Hello everybody, and thank you, kind reader, for stopping by my story. I have been a Digimon fan for a long time, and a Ryuki supporter for almost as long, and yet, I only submit my first Digimon fanfic now! Unusual, I'll admit, but I have been working on this for a long time, and as it is a chaptered story, I wanted to make sure I had enough written in advance before submitting anything. I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it, and once again, thank you for stopping by!

-Lusankya

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or its characters, just this little story.

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The sun was bright, the birds were chirping and kids were playing and running around everywhere, just happy to not have school on this blessed Sunday. And, in the corner of West Shinjuku's park, six teenagers were hanging out, happy to have the chance to be together.

It has been a while since the Tamers had the chance to get together. Well, it seemed this way to Rika. While the others went to the same school and basically saw each other every day, she rarely had the chance to see them. Curse her mother and her beliefs about what she considered a good education. Not that she didn't like her school, mind you. Her mother had the money to send her to a private school where she was challenged and she even had some friendly acquaintances. But there were two things that she definitely did not like about her school: the fact that she couldn't see her friends, and the fact that she had to wear a skirt.

But now wasn't the time for dwelling on the unfairness of her life. It was a wonderful day of September and she was going to spend it with her fellow Tamers.

Takato, Rika, Henry, Kazu, Kenta and Jeri were sitting on the grass, just outside of Guilmon's old hideout. Since the temperature was still warm enough to do so, they had decided to picnic.

"Jeri, said Kazu between two bites of his sandwich, I absolutely adore you."

"Yeah, it was super-nice of you to make all this food for us!" Added Kenta.

The young girl slightly blushed and smiled brightly before answering "It wasn't that much, really. Plus, Takato helped me out a lot."

Henry turned to Takato, an eyebrow raised and a teasing smile on his lips. "Well, well, you hadn't told us that…"

Takato blushed slightly before stammering an answer.

"W-why would I have told you? I-I mean, there's nothing special about me helping Jeri making sandwiches…"

"No, but there's something special about you and Jeri alone in a kitchen" said Kenta, grinning. Kazu chuckled at his friend's comment but choked on his food at the same time, alarming the Tamers until he managed to swallow it down.

"Don't mind me, guys, said Kazu while coughing a bit. I'm good now, I'm alright…"

"Man, what is it with you guys? The second I'm not there, you all start dying."

All at once, the Tamers turned around to face the newcomer… to happily realise that it was Ryo. They did not see him often, as his parents had divorced shortly after the D-Reaper's events. Since then, he had moved with his mother to Nerima and only went back to Kyushu a few times a year to see his father. While he never talked about his parents' divorce, Ryo seemed happy to live in Tokyo and he made a point of coming to West-Shinjuku as often as he could to visit his fellow Tamers.

"Hi Ryo!"

"Long time no see, pal!"

"Yeah, how long has it been since the last time you came here?"

"Well he did come here for a couple of weeks in August."

Ryo laughed at his friends effusions of affection. It was good to feel so welcome.

"I'm glad to see you too guys. It's always great to come here! Hi Henry- oh, thanks for the sandwich Jeri! Hello, hello, and of course- (he plopped down next to Rika) Hello to you, Rika", he said while flashing her his most charming smile.

Rika raised an eyebrow but smiled back.

"I couldn't help but notice that I am always the last one you greet, Akiyama."

"Well, you know what they say, you got to save the redheaded ones for last" he answered while winking at her.

Rika rolled her eyes at his antics. Ryo did not change much in the way he behaved with her over the year, meaning that he always had a little extra in store for Rika. They weren't particularly close, mind you, but Rika had warmed up slightly to Ryo during the last year and was able to successfully converse with him without insulting or trying to maim him every two sentences.

"So Ryo, asked Takato, how come you're here? When I called you to tell you about our get-together, you told me that you couldn't come because you had too much homework."

Ryo nodded.

"I did. But I woke up really early today and managed to finish everything just in time to run to the bus station and get here relatively on time. I swear guys, I think teachers have some kind of device that enables them to sense when there's something you really want to do so they can give extra homework just to spite you!"

The others laughed and wholly agreed.

"Speaking of school, intervened Rika, aren't you excited about next Saturday?"

"Heck yeah!" exclaimed Kenta and Kazu.

The redheaded girl smiled at the enthusiasm of the two boys.

"Isn't it great that the autumn's equinox falls on a Saturday this year?" continued Rika "I love two days week-ends. We should really make something big for the occasion."

"Rika, said Jeri looking uncomfortable, I'm afraid we won't be able to."

"Why not?" answered Rika, puzzled.

"Because our grade at school is going on a field trip to Kyoto next week-end", sheepishly said Henry.

"The teachers couldn't make it fit anywhere else in our school's schedule", apologetically added Takato.

"Oh" was all Rika managed to answer, letting her gaze fall to the ground. Her disappointment was obvious.

"Haven't we told you about that? I was so sure we did!" said Henry

"We'll try to do something all together another time" promised Jeri. "Maybe on Sports Day?"

"Yeah, maybe…" Rika smiled. "So, what will you be doing in Kyoto?"

-----A few hours later------

"It's getting late now, and I really have to get back home, so I'll talk to you guys later, okay?" said Jeri.

"I'll walk you home" offered Takato. Jeri smiled before nodding.

"Well it was great to see you guys! Have fun in Kyoto, and don't forget to take pictures, okay?" said Rika while taking her leave from her friends.

"Don't worry, we will!" answered Takato.

"And lots of them, too!" added Jeri, grinning.

The pair waved the others goodbye and so, the two of them walked away. When they were far enough, Ryo permitted himself to chuckle.

"Aren't they just adorable?" he fondly said.

"Yeah, it's only a matter of time before those two become an item", predicted a grinning Henry.

"Takato and Jeri, sitting in a tree…" started singing Kazu and Kenta. Rika rolled her eyes at the pair.

"Cut it out you two. Anymore of Kazu's singing and I'll have to start a therapy."

"Speaking of therapy, I have to go and pick-up Suzie at her friend's house" said Henry while looking at his watch. Ryo raised an eyebrow at the comment.

"I don't get it. What does therapy has to do with Suzie?"

"Oh, she stopped playing Princess Pretty-Pants. Instead, she plays psychologist. She makes us lay down on the couch and forces us to tell her about our day while she takes notes."

They all laughed at the image.

"Anyway, I have to go now. See you later, guys!" And so Henry departed.

"Yeah, we better go too. Hey, Kenta, want to eat at my place tonight?"

"Yeah, sure Kazu!"

"Race you to my house!"

"Hey, not fair!" And so they ran off.

Rika shook her head.

"I wish I knew where they find such energy. Oh well, I got to go too. Goodbye Akiyama."

"Mind if I walk a bit with you? I have to go in that direction to catch my bus anyway."

Rika gave him a strange look but shrugged.

"Sure, if you want."

They started walking in silence, both lost in their thoughts and enjoying the crisp September breeze on their face. Rika permitted her mind to wander freely. After a while though, she got the nagging feeling that somebody was watching her. Unable to ignore it anymore, she turned her eyes towards Ryo. Just as she had guessed, he was starring at her.

"What is it" she asked, annoyed.

He smiled before answering. "Just wondering about a few things. You really seemed disappointed this afternoon, when the others told you they were going on that field trip. Had you already planned out something?"

Rika looked away. "Yeah, of course I was disappointed. I don't see them as often as they see each other, you know, since I go to another school and all."

"But had you prepared something? What were your plans for next week-end?"

She shrugged. "I don't really know. We could have gone to the movies or the arcade. We could have thrown a small party. It would have been nice to do something else than just hang around in the park for a few hours."

"Yeah, it would have been nice", sighed Ryo.

Rika hesitated before adding "Also, I… I wanted to ask Jeri if she'd spend the night at my place."

Ryo gave her a surprised look before chuckling. "Like a slumber party? Why, I would never have guessed you had a girly side, Rika."

Said girl's cheeks coloured themselves slightly. "There's nothing funny about it!"

He kept laughing softly.

"Really, Rika, I can see it from here.2 He cleared his throat before starting to speak in a very high-pitched tone: "Rika, can I braid your hair? Rika, who do you think is cuter: Takato, Henry or Ryo? Rika, let's do my magazine's test! It tells you what type of guys you should date!"

Rika gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I suppose Jeri would be like that", she conceded. "But it could have been fun. You know, a night dedicated to the female minority among Tamers."

He winked at her. "I'm just teasing you."

"As usual."

A few minutes went by as they kept on walking. Suddenly, Ryo stopped. Rika stopped walking too and looked at him quizzically.

"Rika", he began, "what if we spent next week-end together?"

Her eyes widened in surprise.

"You and me? Are you kidding?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. What, you don't think it could be fun?"

"I don't know", she answered, doubt evident in her voice. "Wouldn't it be weird? I mean, it's not like we're close or anything."

"And your point is?"

"My point is that we don't have anything in common!"

"Yes we do!"

"Name me four things we have in common."

"I can easily do that!"

"I highly doubt it.""

"Okay then. First, we both are Digimon card game champions."

Rika rolled her eyes. "Easy one."

"We both got cool spiky gravity-defying hairstyles."

"That's subjective."

"We both have purple as our favourite color."

She frowned.

"Your favourite color is actually purple?" she asked in disbelief.

"Actually, it isn't. But I like blue and red equally, and they make purple when they are mixed together. That's good enough for me."

She chuckled. "Fine.'

"And finally… uh, finally, we both… uh…"

Rika crossed her arms and started tapping her foot in mock impatience. "I'm waiting, here, you know."

"Uh, we both… like… Star Wars?"

"How in the world did you know that?" she cried out in astonishment.

He nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Lucky guess!"

She sweatdropped but quickly shrugged it off.

"So, what do you say Rika? I'm sure we could have a wonderful time together!"

"I don't know", she cautiously replied. "You really must be desperate for company if you want mine so bad. Don't you have adoring fans? I'm sure they would be delighted to spend the day with you and attend to your every need."

He looked at her blankly. "If I really wanted to spend the day with an empty-headed girl who never heard of the Digimon card game and only fawned over me because she saw my picture on the cover of some magazine, do you really think I'd ask you in the first place?"

"Hm. Good point."

Ryo sighed before turning around, sadly looking at the ground, his hands in his pockets.

"It's alright if you don't want to, Rika. I won't force you or anything. It's just that…' He sighed loudly. 'I was looking forward to spending two whole days with the Tamers too. We could have thrown a huge slumber party, and Henry could have braided my hair…"

Rika began laughing uncontrollably. The image of Henry braiding Ryo's hair truly was hilarious. But, Ryo kept his demeanour and continued his monologue, pretending to be oblivious to Rika's hilarity.

"But, since you don't seem to want my company, I guess I'll just stay home… alone… lonely… I'll spend the week-end in my room, re-watching my DVDs of the 1st season of Digimon …"

She shook her head, her laugher finally stopping. "Okay, okay, then. We'll do something together next week-end. But only because I pity you."

"Why, thank you for your condescendence, Your Majesty."

"At last, you give me a nickname I like! This day just keeps getting better and better."

"What was wrong with 'Wildcat' and 'Pumpkin'?"

"They sucked."

"They so did not!"

"Oh yes they did. But you're free to call me 'Your Majesty' anytime you like."

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

"Good boy."

They resumed walking. Rika discreetly snuck a glance at Ryo, only to find out that he was doing the exact same thing. They both laughed and kept on walking, both smiling to themselves.

"I make a left here" suddenly said Rika.

"Well I have to take right to get to the bus station. Looks like we must already part, Your Highness."

She softly laughed.

"Looks like it. But it seems that we'll be catching up next week-end, won't we?"

"Sure we will! We'll touch up on the details later this week."

"Okay then. Well, goodbye Akiyama."

He looked at her in disappointment.

"I don't even get a hug?"

The redheaded girl looked at him blankly.

Ryo smiled and opened his arms to her.

She narrowed her eyes.

The wind blew.

"Fine!" he said while throwing his hands in the air. "You win. No hug then."

She game him a small satisfied smile.

"Good boy."

"Well, goodbye Rika! See you on Saturday!" He said, waving to her as he walked away.

"Bye!"

She starred at Ryo's back for a long time before snapping back to reality and beginning to make her own way toward her house. It was weird that Ryo had offered to do something with her just like that, she decided. She suddenly frowned. _'I hope he didn't do it because he felt sorry for me'_, she thought. _'Though, maybe he did really feel lonely and was only desperate for company... Nah. Ryo, desperate for company? Yeah, right. But he could be nostalgic of the Tamers' days, I guess.' _Lost in her thoughts, she kept on walking, nearing her home.

'_Let's say though… Just for one second, let's say that all along, Ryo just wanted to spend some time with me?'_

As she made her way under her porch, fumbling through her pockets for her keys, she let a small amused smirk graze her lips.

'_Heh. __As if that could happen.'_

Once inside, she chuckled at the silly idea while untying her shoelaces.

'_Come on; me and Ryo Akiyama, playmates and best friends? Not in a million years!'_

And so, she made her way to her room.

**End of Chapter ****1**


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! I am very happy to see you again, and I apologize for the long time it took me to submit this second chapter. I hope that you will think that it was worth the wait. I would like to thank everybody who has reviewed: thank you very much, hexgurl001, JFMEC;C, anon, cindy, Rubberman2025 and 4815162342 execute, your kind comments have brightened my day!

I would like to dedicate this chapter to hexgurl001, who was the first one to review.

-Lusankya

Disclaimer: I still don't own Digimon. If I did, I probably wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it.

Mumbling under her breath, Rika was sitting at the kitchen table, attempting to do her math homework with little success.

"If f(x)2x²-4x+3, it means that…"

And the phone rang.

More than thankful for the distraction, Rika answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi Rika! It's Jeri. I hope I'm not bothering you?"

"No, not at all. In fact, I really happy to hear from you" said the redheaded Tamer, making herself more comfortable on her chair. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm good, I'm good. Listen, I really wanted to apologize, for the autumn's equinox. I forgot to tell you, and I saw you were disappointed last Sunday when you heard of our outing…"

Rika smiled at her friend's guilty tone. Jeri truly was a sweet girl.

"Don't make such a big deal out of it. It's okay! Besides, even if you had told me beforehand, you still would have gone to Kyoto, you know. So don't you feel guilty, okay?"

"But, Rika! It's not fair! Takato, Henry, Kazu, Kenta and I see each other every day at school, we have lunch together, we're in school clubs together… But you, you don't see that much of us. And I know that you don't feel as much as a part of the gang as you should because of that. And I have been a bad friend for not including you more and for letting you down on a holiday like that. And I am sorry. I promise I'll be a better friend from now on."

Rika felt her eyes stinging a little. She did not hear such heartfelt and touching words often. Rubbing her eyes, she let out a small chuckle.

"Jeri, you have nothing to be sorry for. You're a wonderful friend."

"But friends don't leave friends alone on holidays," argued Jeri.

Rika smiled.

"That's where you're wrong, Jeri. I won't actually be alone on autumn's equinox."

"Really?" said Jeri, surprise evident in her voice. "How come?"

Leaning back on her chair, Rika let out a small chuckle.

"That's the funny part. Last Sunday, while we were walking home, Akiyama asked me if I wanted to spend the day with him, and I said yes."

The line stayed silent.

Frowning at the lack of feedback from Jeri, Rika waited for some kind of answer that did not come. After a few seconds, Rika spoke again: "Uh, Jeri? Are you there? I just said that Akiyama and-"

'OH MY GOD! YOU AND RYO ARE GOING OUT ON A DATE?'

Startled by Jeri's sudden joyful shriek, Rika fell down her chair and dropped the phone. She quickly hurried back to it.

"No, no! You got it all wrong! It's not a date!"

"But-but-but, you two would make such a lovely couple!"

"NO, we would NOT."

"Of course you would. But since this is not a date, what is it?"

"Well, we haven't really decided yet. He's supposed to call me so we can touch up on the details of what we want to do and where we want to go. We haven't spoken to each other since the picnic two days ago. We briefly spoke of movies and arcade, though."

"Ah, so it's just a friendly get together between a boy and a girl who have no interest in each other."

Rika frowned. "Now you wipe off the smirk I know you have plastered on your face. I can hear it."

"Aw, come on Rika", said a giggling Jeri. "You can't possibly tell me that you don't think that Ryo is cute, can you?"

"Sure can!"

"Oh, so you think he is as ugly as a baboon's butt?"

"What? No!"

"So you do think he is cute."

"No! He's- he's… Akiyama is okay-looking. There."

Giggles were heard from the other side.

"Stop giggling!" shouted Rika.

"But, giggle you give me such good reasons to!" said Jeri.

"That's it; I'm hanging up on you."

"Don't be so mean; I know you don't mean that. But I have to go though; my step-mother wants me to come and help to prepare dinner."

"Okay then. I'll talk to you later."

"Yes, and I want to hear everything about your date with Ryo!"

"Jeri!"

"Bye bye!"

And so Rika found herself glaring at a silent phone. She shook her head. After all, there was no point in continuing an argument alone. Sighing, she replaced herself properly on her seat, intending to go back to her homework.

"So, if f(x)2x²-4x+3, it means that…"

And the phone rang again.

Wondering what the chances of getting two phone calls back to back were, Rika answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello Rika, it's Henry."

Rika smiled. It was always nice to talk to him.

"Hi. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Guess who I just spoke to on the phone? Ryo. And guess why? He was asking me for your phone number."

Well, most of the time if was nice to talk to him.

"And, well, he hanged up before I could ask him any details," continued Henry. "So I thought I'd call you to ask what ever happened between you two."

Rika narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing happened."

"So he hasn't called you yet?"

"No."

"And you have no idea why he wants to talk to you?"

"Well… Yeah, I probably do."

"And…?" The smirk was evident even through the phone.

Rika sighed. She knew she was probably going to be teased again.

"The thing is… Well, after the picnic last Sunday, while we were walking home, Akiyama asked me if I wanted to do something with him on autumn's equinox."

Henry started laughing.

"And you actually said yes? Why, hell must have frozen over! That's something I would never have thought I'd hear someday!"

"Argh, just let it die, would you? It's not like it's that big of a deal!"

Henry's laughter stopped, but amusement was still evident in his voice.

"So, what now? Are you two an item or something?"

"NO. Definitely not!"

"And you're sure that Ryo isn't planning on profiting of the situation to seduce you?"

Her eyes widened and she gaped for a few seconds while Henry laughed his head off.

"WHAT?"

"Because, I mean," added Henry through his laughter, "if Ryo wants to spend two days alone with you, then surely he must be planning something of the kind, you don't think so?"

"Henry, stop this right now-"

"I tell you, he's going to wait until he has you in a dark corner, and then he's going to make his move-"

"Goodbye, Henry." And Rika slammed the phone shut angrily.

She then proceeded to slam her forehead on the kitchen table next to the rested phone, her cheeks pink of anger and embarrassment.

"Why, why is everybody reacting this way?" she moaned. "I don't get it, it doesn't mean anything, so why is everybody making such a big deal out of it?"

She slowly raised her head away from the table. Looking at her still undone math homework, she sighed. She reached for her pencil….

…and the phone rang again.

The sight would have been quite comical if there would have been anybody looking, as Rika jumped three feet high, knocked her knee on the table, dropped her pencil and accidentally hit the phone while trying to grab it, causing it to fall off the table. Reaching out to grab it before its fall, Rika only managed to fall herself on the ground next to the phone.

Moaning in pain, Rika decided that it was definitely not her day.

She finally got her hands on the phone. Wincing, she sat down on the floor and answered the annoying ringing source of her misery.

"Hi, Rika speaking, what do you want?"

"Erm, hi Rika? It's Takato… Uh, is this a bad time or something? Because I can call back, you know, that is, if you want… I mean, I can also not call back…"

"It's alright", she said, rolling her eyes. "Just make it quick, I've got homework to do."

"Uh, okay, if you say so… It's just that, erm, about half an hour ago, Ryo called me to ask for your phone number, but I couldn't find it or remember it, so he said he'd call me back to give it to me once he'd get it."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Then how come you're on the line with me?"

"I was getting to it. After his call, I actually found your number and tried to call Ryo to tell him not to bother, but his line was always busy, so I called you so you could tell him instead? That is, if he still haven't called you?"

Rika sighed.

"Look, Takato, I'll pass the message to him, but wouldn't it have been much simpler to just wait for the call and tell him you don't need it anymore? Your actual strategy doesn't really reduce the amount of phoning…"

Silence at the other end of the line.

"Hehe, I guess you're right!" chuckled Takato, slightly embarrassed. "Well then, I'll just leave you be, I guess… Bye Rika."

"Yeah, yeah, goodbye…"

She had just hanged up when the phone rang, again.

Now, Rika wasn't feeling patient anymore.

"WHAT IS IT."

"Rika? Is there something wrong?"

Her eyes widened.

_Oh no. _She thought.

_Oh no no no no no no…_

It was her grandmother.

"I'm so sorry grandma" Rika said, her cheek flaming red. "I didn't mean to yell, it's just that I've just gotten all those annoying phone calls back to back…."

"Uh-huh…" answered Seiko, not sounding very convinced. "I am shopping for groceries, and I wanted to know if there was something in particular you wanted to eat tonight. I was thinking oden, but I wanted your opinion first."

"Erm, no, oden is fine with me…"

"Alright then, if you say so… Well then, I suppose I'll see you later. And Rika, take a deep breath to calm yourself before answering the phone next time, okay? Your mom would also tell you to smile as you answer, but I'll leave that to your judgment."

Her face flushed with embarrassment, Rika mumbled a weak "Yes grandma. Bye."

As she hanged up, she let out a tired sigh. These phone calls were draining her. And with all this, her math homework was nowhere near getting finished.

And yet the phone rang, again.

Rika jumped slightly when it did but quickly picked the phone up. As she was about to answer though, she remembered her grandmother's words. She took a deep breath, put on a fake smile, and answered in a forced cheerful tone.

"Hello! Makino residence, Rika speaking! May I help you?"

"Hehehe, is that really you, Rika? When did you turn into a phone operator?"

Yup, that was Ryo. Rika sighed.

"Hi Akiyama."

"What, no snappy answer? Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just… Ah, forget it. What do you want?"

"I was just calling about our little week-end together. That is, if you still want to?" anxiously answered Ryo.

"God only knows why, but yeah, I'm still okay with it. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, first of all, would you be willing to spend both days with me, or would you prefer just one day? Personally, I'd prefer both days, we could do even more stuff."

She furrowed her brow. "Isn't two whole days together a little excessive?"

"Not in my opinion. Time goes fast when you're in good company!" Ryo cheerfully said.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Speak for yourself."

"Oh, but I was", he flirtingly said.

"Ryo…" she answered in a dangerous tone, red creeping slightly on her cheeks.

He merely chuckled. "So, what do you say? I really think we won't get bored with each other. Besides, if after one day you can't stand me anymore, you can always throw me out of your life."

Rika thought for a moment.

"Well… Alright then, let's go for two days. But I will not hesitate to use my power to banish you if you start getting on my nerves. You've been warned."

"Of course, your Highness", he said with a small laugh. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"So, what do we do during this enormous amount of time together?"

"Well, I was thinking, since we have two days together, and there are two of us, we could each plan a day on our own. This way, it keeps some surprises for the other!"

"That's not a bad idea" she slowly said, "but what if we plan the same thing, like going to see a movie?"

"Then we'll just have to use our imagination! If you'd like though, you can have the first day. I'll adapt in consequence the next day. I can be very imaginative."

"I'm not worried about your imagination. I have seen what it is capable of."

"Would you be referring to a certain event where-"

"Yes" Rika curtly answered.

"It seems like some things just cannot be forgotten. Anyway, what would you think of me arriving at your place around 11 on Saturday? We can grab a quick bite, and then begin our day of adventure!"

"Sounds like a plan. Anything else we need to talk about?"

"Aww, you don't want to talk to me anymore? I am pained, really. But to answer your question, no, I can't think of anything else that might need planning."

"Well then, I guess I'll see you Saturday."

"You bet! You know, I'm really happy that we'll get to spend some time together. Goodbye Rika!"

"Bye Akiyama." And she hanged up. For the first time in quite a while, the phone remained silent. Rika let out a sigh, relaxed in her chair and started massaging her temples.

"God, all these phone calls extenuated me", she grumbled. A fleeting smile grazed her lips. "Heh, worn out by phone calls. I'm getting frail." Getting up, Rika stretched and declared: "I, Rika Nonaka, Digimon Queen, hereby proclaim that I have deserved a long, relaxing warm bath." And with these words, all thoughts of Ryo and other Tamers left her mind, and she made her way towards the bathroom.

On the kitchen table, her math homework laid, forgotten. It would remain undone.

**End of chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the week passed in a blink of an eye, and before even realizing it, Rika was sitting in her living room, nervously

Hi! Sorry for the long wait, once again. I know I take a long time writing these, but hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait. I want to thank everybody who reads this little story of mine, because knowing that you enjoy what I write when I take my sweet time writing it just make my day better. Special thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter: 4815162342 execute, Mimitto, hexgurl001 and Hoshi-Naito. You are all awesome. Now get reading!

-Lusankya

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. They wouldn't sell it to me.

The rest of the week passed in a blink of an eye, and before even realizing it, Rika was sitting in her living room, nervously waiting for Ryo and wondering what exactly possessed her to agree to spend a whole week-end with him. Pity? Desperation for company? Genuine liking for the boy? Right now, her favourite excuse was a momentary lapse of judgement. Not that she could back out now, mind you. Rika Nonaka wasn't someone who backed out of things, especially the ones that seemed very challenging. Plus, Ryo would be disappointed.

At exactly 11 o'clock, the doorbell rang. Rika sprang up but, remembering that it was only Ryo, calmly made her way to the front door.

She opened, and behind the door was an over-excited Ryo.

"Hi Rika! How are you? I'm so excited; we're going to have so much fun!"

She smiled a little. "Hi Akiyama. Come in."

"Thanks! Where can I leave my stuff?"

Just then Rika noticed that he had an enormous backpack on and that he was carrying what looked like a rolled-up sleeping bag. She raised an eyebrow.

"Akiyama… Why did you bring so much stuff?"

"Well I was going to need it if I was to sleep over, of course!"

Her eyes widened. "We never spoke of you sleeping over!"

Ryo's face fell. "But you said that you wanted to have a slumber party with Jeri, so I figured that you'd like one even if it was with me?"

"Oh! Why hello, Ryo! How nice it is to see you!" Rika's mother said, making her way towards the pair.

He smiled brightly. "Hi Mrs Nonaka!"

"It's so nice of you to spend the weekend with Rika, I couldn't bear the thought of seeing her all alone" Rumiko said, fondly ruffling her daughter's hair, to her embarrassment.

"Mom!" she groaned, getting away from offending motherly hand. Rumiko only giggled. She then noticed Ryo's gear.

"Oh, are you planning on sleeping over?"

Rika quickly answered in his stead. "He was planning to, but don't worry, I'm going to help him get his stuff back home later."

Rumiko cocked her head to the side. "But why couldn't he sleep here? If he has to go back to Nerima tonight and come here again tomorrow, it will cut your time together. Beside, it is not like I would mind his presence!"

Rika looked perplexedly at her mother. "Well, alright then..." she slowly said. "He'll have my room for tonight, and I'll sleep with grandma."

Hands on her hips, Rumiko dismissed the proposal. "Nonsense! What fun would there be in a slumber party where the participants are separated? None at all, I tell you! Now, you two go put Ryo's stuff in your room, and you two have fun. Tourlou!" And waving happily at the pair, Rumiko retreated to the kitchen, leaving a very embarrassed Rika and a still-smiling Ryo. The red-head sighed.

"Alright then. Follow me."

She made her way towards her room, Ryo silently following her. After a while, he spoke. "You know Rika, if you are in any way uncomfortable with the idea of me sleeping in your room, you just say the word and I'll sleep in the living room."

A hand on the door of her room, Rika remained silent for a while. "It's not that I don't trust you," she finally said. "I mean, I know you are not stupid enough to try something in my own house."

"Plus you would be quite capable of kicking my ass if I did," added Ryo with a chuckle. Unable to refrain herself from doing so, Rika smiled a little.

"You're right. But, still…" she dragged, looking uncomfortable.

"I'll tell you what," Ryo quickly said. "What would you say if we both slept in the living room? We'd be in neutral territory, and I wouldn't be in your intimacy. Plus it would be an open space, meaning if your mom or your grand-mother gets up for a midnight snack, they would see that we are behaving ourselves quite well. Another bonus? We can watch movies or play video games all night if we want to! What do you say?" he asked, looking at her hopefully.

Rika looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know," she slowly said, "that actually sounds like a good idea." With an afterthought, with a teasing smile on her lips, she added: "For a pompous fool, you have good ideas sometimes."

"Me, a pompous fool?" Ryo exclaimed. Folding his arms and sticking his nose high up, he declared: "I demand that you immediately take back this outrageous slander!"

Rika chuckled at his antics. "Come on, Akiyama; let's drop your stuff in my room for the moment and let's get this day started."

"Wow Rika, I would never have thought that you would be so enthusiastic about spending time with me! I feel all tingly inside."

Rika rolled her eyes for only answer as she open the door of her room. They quickly discarded Ryo's gear and made their way back to the entrance of the house.

"Mom!" Rika called out. "We're going out. We should be back for dinner!"

"Alright sweetie! Have fun!" Rumiko cheerfully answered.

And so, the two teens made their way out.

In the Nonaka house, Seiko entered the kitchen. Rumiko looked up from her newspaper and smiled to her. "Hello mother. You just missed Ryo, I'm afraid."

Seiko sat down at the table. Frowning, she said: "I heard you talk to them about sleeping arrangements. Really Rumiko, what are you trying to do, making them sleep in Rika's room? Don't you think it's improper?"

"Improper? Nonsense!" Rumiko answered with a flick of the hand. "I seriously doubt anything serious would happen. The walls of this house are paper-thin, and Rika is quite capable of defending herself. However, I would be quite at ease if some consensual lip-action took place."

"Rumiko!" her mother exclaimed. "How can you talk about your daughter like that?"

"Well, don't you think it's time Rika gets a boyfriend? And I simply adore Ryo. Wouldn't they make the cutest couple ever?" Rumiko said before taking a sip of tea.

Seiko shook her head. "That's not the point. Rumiko, she is only fifteen."

"I don't think fifteen is too young to have a first boyfriend. I wasn't much older than her when I got married."

"Well, don't you want to keep her from making the same mistakes you did?"

Rumiko posed her teacup on the table.

"I wouldn't be jumping with joy if Rika announced me that she was getting married tomorrow, of course. But," she added with a smile, "when I look at her, I don't think I made a mistake."

--Outside, back to Rika and Ryo--

After a couple of minutes of walking, Ryo broke the silence. "So, your Majesty, what do you have in store for me today?" he asked while turning around to face her, walking backwards.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you walk like that, Akiyama. And it depends. Are you hungry?"

"Thanks for caring for my safety, Rika, truly I'm touched, but I do this all the time. And yes, I'm a little hungry, to say the truth. Are there any good places to eat around where you are bringing me?"

"Seriously, you also look stupid. And not really, it's mostly junk food. But I know a good place on the way."

"I do not look stupid. What sort of place is it?"

"Yes you do, and you will look even stupider when you fall on your butt. It's a small café, but they make great paninis."

"I won't fall. And your place sounds good, I'll be happy to try it."

"Excellent. And watch out for that rock."

"What rock-" is all Ryo had time to say before promptly falling on his behind, attracting laughter from some passer-bys. As Ryo's ears slowly turned to red, Rika permitted herself to smirk at him.

"I had warned you," she simply said, amusement evident on her face. Ryo got up on his feet, embarrassed, and clearing his throat, said: "Hehe, of course I did this on purpose for your amusement."

"Yeah, right. Come on hero boy, let's go eat." And so they resumed walking, but this time, Ryo walked normally. About fifteen minutes later, which were mostly spent in silence except when broken by some general comment on their surroundings, they arrived at their destination.

It was a rather small café, but because it was still warm, many tables were set outside on the pavement. The walls were painted a warm orange and a few wooden statues decorated them, along with lamps made to look like torches of fire. About 20 small worn-looking wooden tables were scattered and displaced according to the whims of the clients, while a bar area with many high chairs was set in the back. Smooth jazz music was being blown by the speakers, not quite covering the ambient chattering of the costumers. The crowd was quite heteroclite, ranging from middle-aged men in business suits sipping an espresso to giggling schoolgirls happily drinking fancy coffees with a mountain of whipped cream on top.

Ryo whistled appreciatively. "I already love this place." Rika smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Glad you do. Where do you want to eat, inside or outside?"

"Hmm, I'd prefer inside. It's a little windy and I hate it when my napkins get blown away."

The redhead chuckled. "I see." She then made her way towards a table in the far right corner of the café, Ryo right behind her. They sat down.

"This place is awesome." Said Ryo, looking around. "Do you come here often?"

"Pretty often, yeah. It's a great place to relax."

"What is this place called?"

Rika shrugged. "I don't actually know. There is no name on the door or on the menus, and somehow I never thought of asking. The fact that the food and ambiance are good is enough for me."

Ryo chuckled. "Hehe, I see."

The waitress suddenly appeared next to them.

"Hello!" she cheerfully greeted them. "How are you guys? Will you need our food menu, or just the drinks one?"

"We'll have both," answered Rika.

"Okay! There you go. When you are ready to order, just give me a little wave!" And with a last smile, she hurried towards another table.

"So," Ryo said while opening his menu, "what do you suggest me to try here?"

"Well, my personal favourites are the paninis," she answered. "They make all sorts of them, the one I prefer being the turkey and bacon one. I also like the grilled chicken one as well as the Italian mix. My mom, however, loves the vegetarian panini with goat cheese. Outside of sandwiches, they also make individual pizzas, salads and they normally have soup ready. That's about it. The other sorts of food here are just desserts."

"I should find something to my taste." Flipping through the pages, Ryo asked: "If this place doesn't even have a name, how did you find it?"

Rika stifled a laugh. "I have to thank my mom for that. A while back, after much begging and sweet-talking, she convinced me to participate in a mother-daughter photo-shoot."

"You said yes?" asked a bewildered Ryo. "I thought you hated those!"

"I do, but new Digimon cards were coming out soon and I was low on cash. I stepped on my pride. The photo-shoot wasn't that bad, though; they didn't make me wear a dress and kept the make-up to a minimal. Anyway, after it, my mom brought me here for lunch with her colleagues, and I fell in love with this place."

"What a touching story" said a smiling Ryo.

"Yeah, a cute love story that still goes on to this day" added Rika, laughing.

"Hey, I just thought of something. Does that mean that somewhere, there are pretty professional pictures of you somewhere in a magazine?" curiously asked the blue-eyed boy.

"Well, yeah," Rika uncomfortably said.

"Really? Are they… revealing?" he asked while wiggling his eyebrows.

Rika rolled her eyes. "No," she flatly answered. "It was an advertisement for ski equipment."

Ryo snapped his fingers in a disappointed manner, which only annoyed Rika further. Changing the subject to one that didn't involve what she was wearing, she asked: "Did you make your choice?"

"Hmm, I think so," he said, closing his menu.

"Good." Rika looked around for the waitress. When she turned her face towards them, Rika waved at her. The waitress smiled brightly to her, quickly finished what she was doing and in the wink of an eye she was next to them.

"Hello again! What will you have?" she said, her enthusiasm still at its peak as she reached for the notepad in her apron. They ordered their sandwiches and drinks, and with a last smile, the waitress left after promising it wouldn't be long. With the waitress gone, the teens once again fell in an uncomfortable silence. Ryo began to silently look around the café, letting his gaze wander freely.

Suddenly, Rika began feeling uneasy. She was overcome with the feeling that this weekend wasn't going to work out. How could it? They hadn't even spent an hour alone and yet it had been filled with silence. It was one thing to chat casually among the other Tamers, but being alone to entertain each other for two days was completely different. They were too different. They didn't know anything about each other. But most importantly, she realized, she didn't know anything about him.

"How is your mom?" Rika blurted out, jerking Ryo out of his reverie.

"My mom?" he asked, a little surprised. "Well, she's good, I guess. She's been working a lot these last few weeks, though. Why do you ask?"

"Um, no reason in particular…" Rika answered a little uneasily.

Ryo observed her a few seconds, then smiled. "And when I say she works a lot, I mean it! She has barely taken free time lately. She's always bringing her paperwork home. Even this weekend, she's gone to a convention to Osaka, again for work" he said with a chuckle.

"But today is a national holiday…" Rika frowned.

"I know, and that's what I told her. But", he shook his head, still smiling, "it seems her bosses just can't do without her."

"I see…" Rika said, but her mind held a very different discourse. _So, if I had refused to spend the weekend with him, Ryo would have been all alone…What sort of parent leaves their child alone on a holiday?_

"Rika."

Ryo's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. With a jerk, she caught his gaze. He was looking at her earnestly.

"Look, I know what you were just thinking. You had that look of pity on your face."

Blushing, she mumbled: "No, no, of course not…"

"Please, you're not the first one to look at me like this," he said while rolling his eyes. "Listen, I am not poor little unhappy lonely Ryo suffering in his broken home. First, I understand my mom has to work a lot. She went through a divorce and she now has to pay for stuff my dad used to. Second, I can take care of myself. I have my life, she has hers, and it's all very well like this. So, don't make a soap opera of my life. It isn't tragic. Okay?"

"O..okay," she answered lowering her eyes, embarrassed. She had not meant for conversation to take such a turn. _Way to go, Nonaka, _she darkly thought. _I try to make conversation lighter, and all I manage to do is stretch the distance between us. My social skills are truly amazing. _Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by the ever-so-cheerful waitress, who brought the two Tamers their sandwiches and, with a hearty "Bon appétit!", skipped along to another table.

Ryo looked appreciatively at his panini. "My, it looks and smells delicious. Cheers!" he said, raising his glass of iced tea to Rika. "To our weekend of fun together," he added, smiling brightly. With a small smile of her own, Rika too raised her lemonade.

"Cheers."

**End of chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello there everybody! I hope there are still people who remember this story; it has been such a long time since I updated it! __Sorry I take so much time, hopefully it will be worth the wait. Special thanks again to the reviewers of the last chapter, namely Twilight Archangel, Hoshi-Naito and Kaoru2585. Thanks also to you readers who haven't reviewed, though if you did review I could thank you properly. *wink wink, nudge nudge* And now, on with the story!_

_-Lusankya_

_Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, I would be very happy. I unfortunately do not own it, but you are reading this story of mine and that makes me very happy too_.

Leaning back in his chair, Ryo sighed contently. "Ah, that was delicious. I don't think I could eat anything more."

Rika smiled. "Yeah, I'm pretty full too."

At this moment, the waitress passed next to their table. To Rika's surprise, Ryo's eyes widened when he saw her and cracked his neck to follow her movement. While she was first highly annoyed by his antics, Rika quickly understood the cause.

The waitress was carrying an enormous piece of chocolate cake.

"I changed my mind. I think I still have some space left", said Ryo, hypnotised by the cake.

Rika shook her head. "I really don't think you do."

Finally tearing his gaze from the chocolate wonder, Ryo looked at her quizzically. "Why? These cakes are not as good as they look?"

"Oh no, the cakes here are great. But they're big portions, very filling, and they're not exactly cheap."

"How much?"

Rika held out the dessert menu to him. Ryo winced. "That would indeed cut into my arcade budget. But," the blue-eyed boy conceded as he looked forlornly at the piece of chocolate cake currently being devoured between occasional fits of giggles by two schoolgirls, "it looks so delicious…"

As she looked at her cake-longing companion, Rika was torn between her emotions. One little part of her thought _"Poor him, he looks so sad…"_, but the major part of her thought _"Come on, let's be serious, I mean it's just cake." _

She sighed. She regretted it before she even said it. Rika cleared her throat, snapping Ryo's attention back to her again.

"Ahem. Akiyama."

He looked at her, slightly puzzled. Rika began stammering.

"Well, erm, since, you know, the cake pieces are kind of big…"

"Yes?" Ryo answered, still looking a little confused.

"Well, maybe, maybe we could, erm…" she continued, her cheeks getting tinted with pink.

Smiling, Ryo nodded, urging her on.

Rika's cheeks reddened.

"God, Akiyama, let's just share that stupid cake already, if that's what it takes to get you to shut up about it! I am not going to spend one more minute listening to you whining about how you want cake!" The red-head yelled while throwing herself into the back of her chair while folding her arms over her chest, her violet eyes ablaze with anger at her embarrassment. To the untrained eye, she would have effectively looked as if she were sulking.

However, Ryo just smiled brightly.

"Wow, you really mean it? Thank you! You choose which cake we'll have then!" He cheerfully said while giving her back the dessert menu, seemingly oblivious to the biting and angry tone of her two last sentences. Rika looked back at him, a little surprised at his lack of acknowledgment of her little outburst.

"Erm, thanks…" she said, her tone uncertain, before accepting the offered menu. She browsed through it for a minute, trying to ignore Ryo's gaze which was fixed upon her, before announcing her decision.

"What about the raspberry and chocolate fudge cheesecake?" Rika finally said.

Ryo's eyes shone brightly and his smile widened. "Great! I was hoping you'd choose this one", he happily said. Locating the waitress in the front of the restaurant, he then quickly proceeded to call her.

"Oh, hey, miss waitress! Over here!" He began shouting as he waved his arm around, trying to get the waitress' attention. She turned around, gave a little laugh and nodded, signalling she'd be with them soon, as she was currently busy with another client.

Rika rested her forehead in her palm, discouraged by his antics. "You can be such a child, Akiyama," she grumbled.

"Me, childish?" Ryo innocently said. "I'll have you know that I can be very serious and mature when I need to be. I just don't often feel like it" he added with a wink.

Rika shrugged, but couldn't find a witty comeback to this. She had personally witnessed just how serious he could be as they had fought the D-Reaper; how he had been willing to throw everything into a near-hopeless attempt to defeat it, and how he had protected her as she lay helpless as Sakuyamon after giving her power to him. Lost in her reminiscence of the Tamers days, she hadn't noticed the waitress joining them.

"Hi!" she ever-so-cheerfully said, making Rika jump slightly. "What can I do for you?"

"We'd like a piece of your raspberry and chocolate fudge cheesecake, please!" Ryo asked, smiling. "Oh, and could you please bring us two spoons?"

The waitress' smile would have widened, if such a thing was possible. "Sure, no problem! I'll be right back!" And so, the waitress bounced away.

Ryo then turned his attention back to Rika. "So, your Highness, if you don't mind me asking, what plans do you have for us today?"

"Nothing special, really" the redhead shrugged. "I figured we could go see a movie and spend some time at the arcade, since it's right next to the movie theatre."

"Sounds like a plan. What's playing these days?"

"I came prepared," said Rika as she pulled a piece of paper from her jeans' back pocket. She unfolded it before him to reveal a newspaper's movie schedule. "I'm not very difficult movie-wise. However, I refuse to go see this one, this one, this one, and you'd have to drag my corpse into the theatre for me to see this one, and even then I'm sure it would manage to hold on to something in order to prevent it."

"Funny, these movies you refuse to see are all either romantic comedies or tear-jerkers," said Ryo, highly amused. "But I'm sure we can find a compromise. What else do we have?"

Rika looked over the schedule. "Two horror movies, three animated ones, a thriller…"

"No, I saw that one," said Ryo as he shook his head. "It wasn't as great as the critics said."

"We also have a fictional biography on a 17th century German writer, a badly translated Bollywood production, a few dumb and tasteless comedies, and a martial arts movie. That's about it."

"I don't know about you, but I love a good martial arts movie" said Ryo.

Rika looked at him with interest. "Actually, I quite like them myself. Plus, I have been waiting for a chance to see this one for some time now. I mean, Yu Tsi-Ang and Hideaki Kurosawa in the same movie? It's almost too good to be true."

"My thoughts exactly! So it's settled then?" asked Ryo, grinning from ear to ear.

"I suppose it is."

It is upon those words that the waitress returned, carrying her precious chocolate-filled load. "I'm back!" she exclaimed, as happy as ever. Rika wondered how she could possibly have so much energy all the time. Maybe the air she inhaled all day long contained a high quantity of caffeine and sugar?

Oblivious to the fact that she was being analysed as such, the waitress put down the cake between the two teenagers. Though, to merely call "cake" such a divine treat would be an insult to its artisans. Words could not possibly describe faithfully this heavenly treat, but if you were to imagine the most mouth-watering, scrumptious-looking cake your mind can picture, well, you would not be close to the truth but it would be a start. Even Rika, who was not even hungry anymore and accepted to share the cake only to please Ryo (not that she would ever admit it, mind you) suddenly found that there was some space left in her stomach.

Mesmerized by the cake, she was shocked out of her hypnosis-like state when the waitress cheerfully said "Well, there you go, you lovebirds! Enjoy!" And with a wink she was gone.

Rika opened her mouth to answer, to correct her, but no sound would come out. Her face paled, and then progressively reddened. _Lovebirds..? Lovebirds..! She... she thinks we're...dating?!_

In front of her Ryo seemed perfectly indifferent to the cause of her distress, though he certainly noticed her troubled demeanour.

"What's wrong Rika?" He asked, slightly worried. "Why are you so upset? I mean, we have cake!"

Mortified and angry that Ryo wasn't as mortified as she was, Rika stuttered: "She thinks that... The, the waitress... that you, that I..! She thinks that we, we are..."

"A couple," finished Ryo. He shrugged. "So?"

Infuriated that Ryo could be so indifferent to something that upset her so much, Rika gritted her teeth. "That waitress thinks we're dating and all you can say is «so»?"

"Well, the mistake was easy to make, no? I mean, we were having lunch together, making plans to go to the movies and sharing a cake. If we had been two guys or two girls, nobody would have thought anything, but as it is, we are a boy and a girl. It's normal people are confused. Besides, since when do you care what people think about you? We both know that you'd rather eat a living snake than go out with me, after all," Ryo calmly said with a small smile that looked almost... sad.

Even though the rational part of her had to recognize Ryo was making perfect sense, Rika was reluctant to admit it. "Maybe," she began, "but still-"

She never had the chance to finish that sentence because Ryo then shoved a spoonful of cake into her mouth. "Now Rika, why can't you just let it go? By making a big deal of correcting the waitress, you would only embarrass her. Surely you couldn't be mean enough to want to dampen her spirits, could you? And I forbid you to make a single other sour face in front of that cake. It has done nothing to you," he gently scolded her.

To tell the truth, Ryo's words were hardly necessary, for as soon as the cake entered Rika's mouth, all her thoughts about the waitress and her strange relationship with Ryo just flew right out of her head: the only thing she could concentrate on was how delicious that cake was.

"Oh my goodness" Rika said with wide eyes, after swallowing, "this is heavenly."

"Really?" asked the blue-eyed boy excitedly.

"Like you wouldn't believe!" And with these words, both teenagers pounced on the helpless cake, the waitress' words forgotten for now.

A few minutes later, there remained nothing of the poor cake but the memory of its delectableness in the minds of the two tamers. Leaning back into his chair, Ryo sighed contently. "Ah, that was delicious. Now, I really can't eat anything more."

Rika rolled her eyes at him. "I heard that one before."

Ryo chuckled. "Ready to head out, then?" he asked. When she nodded, he motioned to the waitress for the bills. She arrived, with her huge reserves of energy and happiness.

"Ready to leave so soon?" She asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm afraid we must," said Ryo with a smile.

"One bill, I suppose?"

"No, two bills," corrected Rika, flushing slightly.

"Ah?" Surprise was evident in the waitress' voice. She turned to Ryo. "Not treating your girlfriend today?"

Rika opened her mouth to protest, but Ryo was quicker. "I would, but she wouldn't let me," he smoothly said, which made the waitress laugh. She then produced the bills, which the tamers promptly paid. Ryo then rose up from his chair, bowed towards Rika and said with a playful smile "After you, your Highness."

The red-head rolled her eyes and scoffed while making her way out of the café, a tint of red still colouring her cheeks. Once Rika's back was turned, Ryo glanced at the waitress, caught her eye and winked at her. Grinning, the waitress gave him the thumbs-up in return. Ryo then hurried out of the café after Rika, for the great amusement of the waitress.

"Hey, wait for me!" shouted Ryo as he ran to catch up with Rika, who was walking quite quickly. When he finally caught up with her, she coldly said "I am not your babysitter, Akiyama. I intend to go to the movies and the arcade. Either you follow, or you get lost!"

Since the time he had known her, Ryo had ceased to be intimidated by her harsh words, so he only chuckled. "Come on! Leave your side? What fun would there be in that?"

And so, the pair marched towards the movie theatre.

**End of Chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5

_Hi there people! Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but this is a new chapter! I hope you won't be too angry that I took so long to update this story; hopefully it will be worth the wait! Thanks to all those who have reviewed the last chapter: anon, Hoshi-Naito, Cream96, Freyagal, Shiro-Kitsune8 and Twilight Archangel. Thanks also to all the others who have read and kept on reading. Knowing there are people out there who like to read what I write is an incredible feeling. Thanks again, and on with the story!_

_-Lusankya_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, or any of the arcade games that are referenced to in this chapter. Also, any inaccuracy when describing a game is due to the fact that I have not gone to the arcades in about two years. My apologies._

After a short bus ride and an even shorter walk, our favourite Tamers arrived at their destination.

"Remind me when our movie starts?" asked Ryo.

"At a quarter to three," answered Rika.

"So, that leaves us about a little more than an hour to waste at the arcades."

"Uh huh."

A sly smile suddenly appeared on Ryo's lips.

"Hey Rika?"

She turned towards him. "Yes?" she said, cautiously. Ryo's grin widened.

"Arcade challenge. Four out of seven. Are you game?"

Rika grinned as the adrenaline competition always gave her began to flow through her veins. "I'm game. What's the wager?"

"Is there anything you would want in particular?" Ryo asked.

The red-head thought for a moment. "If I win, I get to pick any Digimon card in your deck. And you?"

Ryo grinned mischievously. "If I win, then you have to bake me cookies."

Rika raised an eyebrow. "You actually want to eat something I cooked? I can think of other ways of killing yourself, you know. Ways that would be much less troublesome for me."

"But I love being troublesome for you!" exclaimed Ryo, still grinning. "Besides," he added, "you can't possibly be that bad at cooking."

"Suit yourself. After all, it's not like you'll find out anyway, since I'm going to win the challenge" the red-head answered with a shrug.

"Your overconfidence is your weakness" he said.

"We'll see about that" she answered, a small smile playing on her lips.

There was nothing like a competition to make Ryo and Rika feel good, and both of them could already feel the adrenaline being pumped into their blood. The order of games was then decided: they would begin with a racing game, then with a shooting game, a guitar simulation, followed by air hockey, Dance Dance Revolution, another shooting game and the grand finale would be a fighting game.

They sat down into the racing game seats. Rika turned to Ryo. "Get ready to eat my dust, Akiyama!"

Ryo grinned. "The only things I will be eating are your cookies!"

(Five minutes later)

"It's so not fair. You got your driver's license, like, two months ago!" complained Rika, sulking.

"Ha ha! If you want, we can do this again after you get your own license, but that won't change the fact that I am in the lead right now!" teased Ryo.

"Don't get so cocky, hotshot. This competition has just begun!" vehemently answered Rika.

Ryo laughed, and then offered her the choice of the shooting game they would play first. "TimeSplitters," answered Rika without hesitation. They walked towards the designated arcade booth and took their places. Rika grabbed her plastic gun and took her stance, legs slightly apart, back straight, and her grip firm on the gun she was pointing straight at the screen, ready to blast away anything that would appear on it. So she stood, completely still, a monument of strength, stability and determination, her brow knit together in concentration.

She was so concentrated that she did not notice Ryo observing her. She did not notice his admiring glace as Ryo observed the fire burning in her eyes and the glow of her skin flushed by the excitement and adrenaline of competition. Rika was also not aware of how regal Ryo thought she looked at that very moment, a warrior queen ready to fight and destroy each and every virtual terrorist that would cross her path. Sadly, she did not notice any of this because Rika's mind was focused on one thing only: beating Ryo.

Sadly, because he was too busy admiring Rika's stance and complexion, Ryo did not notice that the game had already started, and promptly lost two lives before he was able to get a hold of himself and begin playing as he should. Alas, the damage was already done, and Ryo was unable to catch up with Rika, who ended up outliving him for several minutes before dying herself.

Rika was ecstatic with her first victory over Ryo, of course. Ryo cursed himself silently and vowed to not let himself be distracted like this again. They then made their way towards the guitar simulation booth and took their instruments. Ryo pretended to tune his while Rika rolled her eyes at his antics. Always the gentleman, the blue-eyed boy offered to Rika the choice of song.

(Four minutes later)

"I swear one of the buttons on my guitar was broken!" complained Rika.

"Why can't you just admit you have no sense of rhythm?"

"I do have a good sense of rhythm! My guitar was broken, I tell you!"

"Gee, you are such a sore loser," sighed Ryo.

Rika shrugged. "That doesn't matter. Next is air hockey," she said while taking off her jacket and tying it around her waist, "and I am going to own you like you have never been owned before!"

Ryo cocked his head to the side and smiled. "I wouldn't want to be owned by anybody else!"

Rika's predictions proved to be true. She was an excellent air hockey player: she had quick reflexes and she always found an opening to slam the puck in Ryo's goal. To be fair to Ryo however, the sight of Rika bent over the air hockey table proved to be a little too much than his hormones could withstand. The poor boy kept on chastising himself, telling himself that it was wrong and that Rika would kill him if she noticed, but his mind went blank every time a tiny piece of chest skin peeked out of the collar of her T-shirt. Fortunately, Rika was too busy gloating over her 10-3 victory to notice Ryo's discomfort.

Ryo let out a small laugh. "It seems like we have a tough competition! The score is even now."

Rika grinned. "The score won't be even for long."

The next game was Dance Dance Revolution. As there were already two guys playing, they were forced to wait a few minutes. Ryo was the first to break the silence.

"Just so you know, I want chocolate chip cookies" he casually said.

Rika snorted. "And just so you know, I have my eye on your precious Goliath card."

"Hey! You know my Goliath card is off-limits," Ryo said, his eyes widening.

"The wager was any card in your deck," Rika reminded him.

"But still, my Goliath card!"

"If you don't want to lose it, then fight with all you got. I'll still win, though" Rika said, smirking.

"I'd keep exchanging witty banter with you, but it looks like it's our turn to play," pointed out Ryo as the two boys left the dance platform, "so why don't we let our skills speak for themselves?" Rika could only agree, and so they took their places on the dance pads.

Although the competition was ferocious, it was Rika who won this challenge, her final grade being an A while Ryo's was a B.

"Ahem" coughed Rika as she got down the dance pads, smirking towards Ryo.

"What?" he asked.

"I am waiting for you to take back some comments you made about me earlier" she said, crossing her arms.

"Fine. I apologize about saying that you had no sense of rhythm. You indeed proved that you have a great deal of it. Please find in your heart the kindness to forgive me, O my Queen!" Ryo dramatically said.

"Thank you," she solemnly answered. She added, less solemnly: "And may I remind you that I am in the lead again! Oh yeah, that's right, I'm one victory away from your Goliath card!"

"I wouldn't start celebrating right away if I were you. As they say, it's not over until it's over."

Next up was another shooting game. As Ryo had let Rika choose the first shooting game, she let him choose this one. Ryo selected House of the Dead, and so they walked towards the game booth.

"You know, I've always wondered about something" said Rika while she took her plastic gun.

"What about?"

"Why are arcade guns so brightly coloured?" she asked, waving the bright orange plastic gun in her hand.

Ryo shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's so that parents don't freak out when their kids play with guns that look too realistic? Or maybe it's so that the zombies can see us better?"

Rika chuckled and shook her head. "You know, one thing I like about you is that you always balance out everything smart you do with something equally stupid."

He grinned. "I knew you were crazy about me! It was only a matter of time before you admitted it, you know!"

Rika would have rebutted him, but the game was starting. This time, as Ryo kept his eyes on the screen at all times, the challenge was more even. In fact, they were so even that the competition eventually turned into something a lot like cooperation.

"Watch out, some are coming from your side!" shouted Ryo.

"I see them! Take care of the dogs!" Rika shouted back.

"Careful, I bet some will come out of- the closet! Shoot the closet!"

"OK! Reload, you're low on ammo!"

"Thanks!"

"Dogs again!"

"I'll take care of them; shoot the fat one throwing barrels!"

"More are coming on!"

"I'm throwing a grenade!"

"Good move!"

"Reload!"

"Area cleared! Do we go left of right?"

"Right! Always right!"

"Alright... Oh man, it's taking us downstairs! We should have gone left!"

"You should have said it—enemies coming!"

"Careful! Some are crawling on the floor!"

"Man, those are fast!"

"Pick up those grenades, we're running low!"

"Reload! Some are coming on your left!"

"Ah! I got one on me!"

"Shake your gun to shake it off!"

"I'm trying!"

"Shake it! Harder!"

"I got it off, but I don't have much life left!"

"No enemies here, lets reload!"

"I don't like the look of this tunnel..." mumbled Rika.

"Boss! Boooss!"

"Goodness! It's huge!"

"There's a red spot on its head, I think its weak spot!"

"Careful! It has tentacles!"

"Oh no! He's got me! Help me! Shoot that tentacle!"

"I'm trying! Try to shake yourself out!"

"I'm out, thanks!"

"No prob- God he hits hard!"

"Tentacle! Reload! Reload!"

"Nooooooo!" screamed Rika. "I'm down- Left! Tentacle on your left!"

"Got it!"

"Careful, you don't have much life left... No, he's attacking, don't reload now! No!"

"Nooooooo!" screamed Ryo as his character was given the final blow and the screen faded to black, on which blood-red letters spelled "GAME OVER."

The pair looked bitterly at the screen for a moment before they were able to speak. Rika broke the silence first: "I really, really hate seeing those two words."

"Yeah, me too" acquiesced Ryo. "But you know," he added as an afterthought, "something positive still happened."

The red-head raised an eyebrow. "Really? What?"

"I won this game" he said, grinning.

She narrowed her eyes. "You won a battle. Not the war" Rika reminded him.

"But that's only a matter of time" he answered confidently.

Rika rolled her eyes but made no answer. They had won three games each and the final seventh game would decide the winner. She knew Ryo was no pushover. To win against him would not be easy, but it was possible. They slowly walked to the Soul Calibur III booth. Once in front of it, they stopped.

"This is it" said Ryo.

"Yeah. The final challenge" replied Rika.

Ryo turned towards her, one hand outstretched to her. "May the best one win" he said. Rika took the offered hand and shook it. "May the best one win" she echoed.

With no more words they took their places at the booth. They chose their characters: Rika picked the ninja Taki, and Ryo chose the knight Siegfried.

The fight began.

Rika immediately launched into a very aggressive series of attacks which Ryo was unable to counter. Although Taki lacked strength, her rapidity made her difficult to hit and so Rika was able to win the first round. The girl allowed herself to smirk in Ryo's direction but refrained herself from making any comment. Victory was not hers yet.

Round two began. This time, Ryo was prepared for Taki's quick attack and blocked in consequence. Siegfried being much more powerful than Taki, his counter-attack cost her a good deal of life. Unfortunately for Rika, Ryo had adapted himself well to her fighting style: as he couldn't compete in speed, he was patient, blocked often and waited for opportunities to counter-attack and deal out massive damage. For all of these reasons, the victory went to Ryo for this round. The third round would then be the decisive point in this arcade challenge.

Round three began. This time, Rika feinted to attack but held back at the last second. Ryo blocked, but as there was no attack he was left vulnerable for a split second, time that Taki used to quickly strike him. Siegfried struck back and Taki was projected to the ground, but she was able to get back on her feet before she got hit again. She ran behind Siegfried's back and struck a few times, but he turned around an unleashed a powerful combo that robbed Taki of almost half her health bar. She counter-attacked with a combo of her own, which evened out the score. Every blow was given a proper answer and this game of cat and mouse continued until both Taki and Siegfried were on the very last remnants of their health bars.

Both Taki and Siegfried stopped, warily eyeing each other. Tension was at its peak.

All of a sudden, they leaped towards each other, attacking at the same time...

"Nooooooooo!" and "Yeeeeeeees!" were suddenly heard simultaneously throughout the whole arcade.

As Siegfried's sword had a longer range than Taki's ninjato, his attack had connected first. Ryo was the winner.

Rika dropped to her knees, defeated. "Why?" she moaned plaintively. "Why can't I beat you, Akiyama?"

Ryo let out a slight chuckle before kneeling down next to her. "Come on Rika, don't take it like that! You put up a good fight, but accept your defeat graciously." He then took her arm to put her back on her feet, but Rika snatched her arm away, which resulted in her promptly falling on her behind. Ryo laughed as she gave him a dirty look and picked herself up. Rika's pouty face only made Ryo laugh harder.

When he managed to stifle his laughter, Ryo winked at Rika: "Remember, chocolate chips!"

She folded her arms, scowling. "Yeah, I remember" she said, refusing to meet his eye.

A silence passed.

"Hey, Rika, how much time do we have left before our movie starts?" the blue-eyed boy asked.

She looked at her watch. "About twenty minutes."

"Rika?" Ryo shyly asked, with a hint of plea in his voice.

She turned her eyes to his. "Yes?"

"We still have a few arcade coins left... What do you say we go back to House of the Dead and try to get past the tentacle boss?"

"...Okay."

And so they did.

**End of chapter five. **


End file.
